


Not My Future (Part 5)

by QuietDarkness



Series: Simplicity and Complexity (Harrisco) [45]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-03-26
Packaged: 2019-04-08 16:01:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,495
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14108979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuietDarkness/pseuds/QuietDarkness
Summary: Cisco manages to let someone in on the truth of the possible terrible future ahead, and the threat against Harry's life becomes very real all over again. Fighting the future to come may be more complicated than it seems...'Opposites don't just attract. They catch fire and burn the entire city down.'(Part 45)





	Not My Future (Part 5)

Getting the package out of the freezer, out of the apartment and into S.T.A.R. Labs without anyone noticing, without tipping his hand to Mira and without being around Harry while he did it all was one hell of a process. The fact he even pulled it off had Cisco inwardly doing cartwheels. 

Harry leaving the apartment first turned out to be key. 

Three days after Christmas, he planned on bringing Eureka to the vet, of all things, for a check up. Earlier the better, Harry had said when he made the appointment. It was such a stroke of luck. So normal, Cisco knew Mira wouldn't think twice about it. So after Harry left, Cisco went about pulling meat out of the freezer to de-thaw for later, like he was planning on making a meal that night. And ta-da! There was the package he'd 'forgotten' all about. He set it on the counter near his bag, which was just waiting for him to grab and go. He finished getting ready for the day, shoved the package into his bag, and headed to S.T.A.R. Labs.

From there, he acted like once again the package wasn't a big deal. That it had slipped his mind as Caitlin immediately started yammering about how one of the isolation cells in the Pipeline wasn't connected to the system, and she couldn't adjust the bio-coding if and when they got a new meta to put in there. He, of course, reminded her there was more than one cell they could use. She just crossed her arms and stared him down. Though it so happened this was the second stroke of luck.

Pretending to be grumpy, he rifled through his bag for his tablet and his earphones. But pulled out the package, paused, shrugged, plopped it in his tool kit, grabbed whatever else he needed, and headed into the Pipeline. 

Because, actually... this was perfect. 

Caitlin had given him the greatest way to dispose of the poison, and possibly let someone else in on everything that was going on...

He spent a good hour and a half messing around with the innards of the cell's adaptable defense protocol, blocking any sound based meta ability they had on file, as well as any he had in the index. He also tweaked the cell to subdue even his own abilities, enough to keep out anything that Mira could possibly use to see or hear inside the cell at any given time. Then he pretended to be mostly done, calling Caitlin to the pipeline and telling her to bring a set of bio samples with her so they could physically check that the system had properly been reset.

She showed up ten minutes later, smirking as she walked in to see him doing air guitar to Wanted: Dead or Alive as it blasted through his earphones. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw her, tumbling slightly sideways and grabbing his chest. “Hooooly crapola!” He blurted, then blew out a ton of air. “Why does everyone keep doing that?!” He groused, yanking his headphones out. 

“Because you're easy to sneak up on?” She replied far too happily, moving into the cell.

“Great. Because that's exactly the quality a superhero needs on their resume.” He frowned, crossing his arms. Caitlin just smirked at him. 

“Where do you want these?” She asked, holding up a tray of bio slides. He sighed, then motioned with his head.

“Over there.” He said, dropping his arms as she stepped in further. Then, as she went to set the tray on the extended retrieval slot, he bent over, grabbed his tablet, and quickly hit a few key strokes. The door closed and sealed tight, effectively locking them both inside. Caitlin straightened fast and turned to look at him, a little wide eyed.

“Uh... Cisco?” She asked, hands out in front of her as she moved toward the door. He quickly put a hand on her shoulder.

“No, wait, it's okay! I closed the door. Everything's okay.” He tried to assure her and she raised a brow at him, looking confused. “I needed to seal us in to make sure no metas were spying on us.” She raised the other brow at that. Then slowly smiled.

“Why would metas be spying on us?” She asked, all hushed like. He sighed, then moved past her, setting his tablet onto his tool box and grabbing the package.

“Okay, not metas. But the Stalker with her stolen meta abilities.” He turned with the package in hand. “This was the only way to make sure the bad future doesn't happen, and that you can diffuse this thing without anyone finding out.” He held it out to her, and she glanced down at it, then back to him as though he'd completely lost his mind.

“You're not making any sense.” She said, but tentatively took the package from him, turning the bubble envelope over in her hands. 

“I'll explain everything. I promise. Just... hang on. It's going to be a crazy ass ride.” He stated, then nudged his toolbox closed with one foot, then scooted it toward her so she could sit on it. She hesitated, frowned lightly, but sat. 

And Cisco told her everything.

The more he spoke, the whiter her face got. But she listened. She stared. Every now and then, her mouth opened and closed. She watched him pace. She kept the package daintily held in her hands, like she wasn't sure if she should even be holding it but also knew it was important. He told her every detail, too. He spared none of the heartbreak. None of the terror. None of the disaster. Everything he experienced, everything the Watcher showed him and made him aware of, he made sure Caitlin knew, too. Because he couldn't do this alone. He couldn't save Harry and stop Mira and save Maggie and all the metas all by himself. He just... couldn't. He wasn't that strong. How he'd died in that future was proof enough of that. 

“And when I woke up, it was Christmas again. And Harry...” he clasped his hands momentarily beneath his chin, then let out an immense breath, smiling. “He was alive and I just couldn't contain myself, ya know? Maggie? She was alive, too! None of it happened yet! And I knew I had to stop it. I _have_ to, all of it. I have to save them. I have to save everyone. That's why the Watcher showed me all of that.” When he finished, and silence surrounded them, he just waited. He let all he'd said sink in. He let her gather what had to be a million questions. 

But then Caitlin set the package carefully aside and stood, crossing the small distance between them in two steps and scooping him into a hug. She smelled like berries and cappuccino and she was trembling. “I'm so sorry, Cisco.” She whispered. As his arms came up and he hugged her back, he felt that tremble turn into a tremor. Caitlin was crying. Albeit softly. But still...

“It's... I'm okay. Really.” He said softly, feeling a strange searing in his gut. As though Caitlin was forcing him to come to terms with the fact that he had, in fact, lived four years of hell in a dream. He wasn't oblivious to it, but since he'd woken up to find Harry alive, he'd done just about everything he could to not remember all those horrible feelings he'd been plagued with. 

Hearing Caitlin say she was sorry, feeling her cry softly against him, it made him remember. And it made him grateful for her. Because she was always the one willing to at least try to understand the pain. Even if it wasn't her own, even if it never could be, she felt it. It affected her, because she loved Cisco. And in that moment, he loved her just that much more. 

He closed his eyes and buried his face slightly in her hair. He could feel his eyelids burning, but he really didn't want to cry. He'd done enough of that in the Not-Future. This was a new future. This was his for the making. His for the saving. He took in a deep breath, her berry scented shampoo filling up his senses, and he pulled back, holding her face in his hands just long enough to wipe the tears away and smile at her. She smiled back at him. And they both just nodded at each other. “Okay, the first thing we need to do is decontaminate this phone and kill this poison.” Caitlin said as she moved toward the package again. 

“Right. And then, I need you to get a message to Felicity. I can't track down Mirabelle. And neither can you. She'll probably be watching you, too, after this.” He waved around the cell for emphasis. “If Felicity can find her, then maybe Oliver might be willing to lend a hand?” He shrugged. “I've already put everything you need on here.” He pulled a mini-thumb drive out of his pocket and handed it to her. “All you have to do is plug it in to your computer and it'll instantly load and email to her an encrypted message in the background of your system. No one will even see it happening.” 

“Let's get to work.” She said, then offered him a smile, a determined glint flashing in her eyes, just before she moved to the open retrieval slot. She was going to use the cell's internal decontamination unit to kill the poison and cleanse the phone. And then? Well... Cisco could only hope everything else went just as smoothly.

* * *

The phone started ringing the moment they left the cell, just like he thought it would. But they'd already decontaminated the package, the phone, and resealed it to look like nothing had happened. He paused, Caitlin at his side, both of them looking at each other in feigned confusion as he set his tool kit down and picked up the package. “What the hell?” He mumbled. Pretending, that's all it was. Had to play the part. Just a little while longer.

“Is your package... buzzing?” Caitlin asked, raising a brow. He shrugged, then tore it open, reaching in and pulling out the phone. He knew it by heart. The way it looked, how it felt in his palms, the weight of it against his face. Acting like it was brand new to him, that the 'Private' flashing on the screen wasn't confusing, was a little hard. But he pulled it off, pressing the answer button and holding it awkwardly to his ear.

“Hello?” He asked. 

_'Hello, Cisco...'_

Cisco froze. He didn't have to pretend to grip the phone tighter. It was practically written in his DNA to hate that voice. The sound of it made his back tighten, his jaw clench. Caitlin's hand moved to his side, confusion dancing on her face instantly. “Who the hell are you?” He managed to get out, holding her gaze, trying to remind himself this was just a theater production he had to get through. 

_'I don't appreciate being ignored. Care to tell me what you and the snow queen have been doing behind closed doors?'_

He raised a brow at that. So it _had_ worked. 

“What are you talking about, who is this?! And why the hell would you mail me a phone? Seriously... who does that?” He demanded, letting some of the anger seethe into his voice, carefully masked as frustration.

_'Apparently, I'm the one who hasn't been able to get your attention quite yet. The pictures, the car... are you really that oblivious, Cisco?'_

”You! You squished my car!” He blurted, then pulled the phone away from his face and pressed the speaker button. “What the hell do you want from me?!”

 _'Seeing as you haven't gotten the message, let me make it very clear... I warned you... Harrison Wells isn't safe. Don't think for one minute I can't get to him. In fact... why don't you go give Harry a great big hug. Just for me...'_ And the line went dead. He and Caitlin stared at each other. 

Of course, they knew the poison was gone. They'd made damn sure of it. Mira didn't know that. Right? That's why she wanted Cisco to hug him. To get the poison on him... right? Unless his attempts at blocking her had failed and she'd seen and heard everything. Which meant she was playing them while they were playing her. What if somehow she'd gotten to Harry while they'd been locked away safe in that cell? Maybe it was the fear imbedded inside of him thanks to the Not-Future, but his chest suddenly hurt and he had only one very urgent thought...

“Harry...” Cisco said in a choked whisper, then both he and Caitlin left the pipeline as quickly as they could, the phone shoved into his pocket, his tool kit forgotten as they rushed to the Cortex...

* * *

Cisco wasn't sure what he expected to find. 

But seeing Harry hovering over the monitors with his palms flat on the table to either side of the keyboard, dark sleeves rolled up toward his elbows, steaming cup of coffee off to the side, made a strangled sound escape his throat and he skidded to a halt, letting out every ounce of air he had left and bending over, hands on his knees, squeezing his eyes shut. Caitlin was right behind him, stopping at his side, a hand to her chest and a deep sigh escaping her mouth as she pressed a hand between Cisco's shoulders. “Thank god.” She breathed, Harry turning half way around and raising a brow as he looked at them both.

“Did I... miss something?” He asked, turning completely, hands empty at his sides. Cisco stood up, shook his head and just strode as intently as he could directly into Harry's body. He faceplanted, wrapping his arms around Harry's frame without warning, then mumbled into Harry's shirt, “You smell like coffee and cat and I'm so happy you're okay.” 

Harry chuckled a little, having to move to sit on the edge of the table, arms still around Cisco who apparently had no plans of letting him go. “Did Ramon fall again?” Harry asked Caitlin, who giggled softly, moving toward them. Cisco smacked Harry on the back of the head before straightening up and placing both hands on Harry's shoulders.

“Why do you keep thinking I'm falling all over the place?” He demanded.

“You just said I smell like coffee, cat, and that you're happy I'm okay.” Harry deadpanned. “You tell me why I would think that.”

“Maybe I can answer that.” Caitlin interjected, Cisco sighed heavily, gratefully and plopped into a chair, dragging his hands over his face and then relaxing completely. Harry crossed his arms and watched Caitlin through the lenses of his glasses. 

He didn't have his contacts on. His eyes were a-glow, practically vibrant, luminous in their far too unique blueness. Cisco couldn't count how many times he'd longed to see those eyes again, dreamed about them, cried for them, wished for- no. None of that had happened. Not yet. Not ever. He tore his eyes away when Caitlin spoke up again. “The package Cisco got on Christmas?”

“The one that was delivered?” Harry asked, raising a brow.

“Yeah.” Cisco said, “That one.”

“Still think that was asinine.” Harry shook his head slightly.

“Totally agree.” Cisco nodded.

“Anyway,” Caitlin stepped in between them, “It was a phone.”

“Who mails a phone?” Harry flatly asked. 

“That's what _I_ said.” Cisco commented, leaning to the side to peer around Caitlin's slender form. 

“From the person,” She waved her hand in a shooing motion at Cisco, though was still looking at Harry, “Who sent those pictures of you and Maggie, and destroyed Cisco's car.”

“Rest in peace, Rhonda.” Cisco mumbled, digging the phone out of his pocket, turning it in his hand, resisting the urge to crush it. 

“Really...” Harry said, slowly standing to his full height, arms falling, one hand reaching for his coffee cup, expression guarded. “How do you know that?”

“Because they called.” Cisco tossed the phone in his direction. Harry caught it one handed, turning it in his long fingers, raising a brow. “They threatened you directly. Scared me... for a minute, I thought...” His voice trailed off, and Harry caught his gaze.

“It's why we ran in here.” Caitlin said for him. Harry nodded without looking at her. He took a long sip of his coffee, set the cup down, then moved toward Cisco, holding the phone back out to him. 

“I'm alright. No one's hurt me.” Harry said softly. And Cisco could feel his chest loosen a little. Just hearing Harry say it was cathartic. He reached for the phone, but then it buzzed, like Cisco reaching for it had set it off. Harry nearly dropped it, and Caitlin squeaked. 

“Shit...” Cisco breathed out, standing. Harry's jaw was clenching, but he cleared his throat motioning the still buzzing phone to Cisco. He took it, and immediately put it on speaker after hitting answer.

“I don't know what you're about, but Harry's fine.” Cisco said, a sense of small triumph edging in. 

_'You're right about that. I was about to ask why. Though I think it may have something to do with that meta jail of yours. Those cells are programmed to kill foreign contaminates, I'm guessing?'_

Caitlin and Cisco exchanged glances. “Only deadly ones.” She said.

 _'I suppose I'll have to chalk this up to being a learning experience, then.'_ A sigh was heard, _'No matter. There's plenty of time, and plenty of chances, to do what needs to be done. We'll talk soon, Cisco. After all, Harry's bound to get what's coming to him... sooner or later.'_

The line went dead for the second time that day. 

“Son... of... a... bitch.” Cisco said each word, pausing as he went, then set the phone on the table like it might just grow teeth and bite him. “Welp, that settles that. You,” he pointed at Harry, “Aren't going anywhere. You're gonna stay right here, where you're safe, where all of us can keep an eye on you.” Harry's brows went up.

“No, I'm not.” He stated easily. Far too easily. Hadn't he just heard his life get threatened? “I'm not putting life on hold because a digitized voice has it out for me. People are trying to kill me all the time.”

“This is... this isn't like all the time, Harry!” He blurted, “This is different!” He grabbed Harry by the hand, and Harry's brows furrowed a little. “I mean...” Cisco swallowed, “It feels... really... really bad. Okay? Just... trust me on this. You have to lay low, just for a little while. Please, man.” He moved into Harry, staring up at him, “I'm begging you, please.”

He watched uncertainty swirl in Harry's gaze, felt Harry's chest fill with air before he sighed, felt Harry's fingers card through his long hair before he finally nodded. “Alright.” Cisco felt his whole body relax suddenly. He hadn't realized how tense he'd been till Harry agreed.

“Good, great. It's a deal.” Cisco sighed out. 

“Under one condition.” Harry glanced from Cisco to Caitlin. Cisco felt the tension flare back up. “At some point, I better get more answers.” He looked back at Cisco. “There's something you're not telling me. You've been acting odd since Christmas.” He moved away from Cisco then, grabbing his coffee as he went. “I give you a two days. If you don't say what needs saying by then,” He moved toward the doorway, “Deal's off.”

And just like that, Harry disappeared from the Cortex, leaving Cisco and Caitlin to stare at each other. 

“What do we do now?” She asked, after a few far too quiet moments stretched on. He melted back into the rolling chair, gripped the sidearms, stared at one of the monitors. Then nodded. They had a plan. They had to stick to it.

“We need to get the team in. Tell them about the phone. And the... the Stalker.”

“Good name.” Caitlin said, sitting down, pulling her laptop toward her the same time she slipped the micro-thumb drive out of her palm and into a port. If Cisco hadn't been looking for it out of the corner of his eye, he wouldn't have seen it. Turns out Caitlin was pretty damn good at slight of hand. 

He'd have to remember that for the next time they played cards...

* * *

The heaviness had settled around him like a blanket that he didn't want on. Giving scant details, pretending he didn't know everything that he knew, was turning out to be far more stressful than he thought it would be. The end goal was something he had to keep in mind. And knowing Caitlin was in the fold helped ease some of the tension. But by the time he was done explaining what he could about the phone, about the threat to Harry, and had the whole team as much on the same page as possible, his head felt like it wanted to find the nearest guillotine and sacrifice itself.

Barry ran down the number on the phone, tried to track its purchase. But the phone, as Cisco already knew, was a burner. A really old style. And the Stalker had taken every possible precaution, using an encrypted algorithm that allowed the signal to bounce off of every cell tower in the city. There was no way to pinpoint the location. Caitlin pretended to go back to the cell in the pipeline and check the contaminates log. It was there she found out the poison had actually come from a meta called Biohazard. Who also happened to be missing. Along with several other metas off of Cisco's index. Meta's whose abilities were not only dangerous, but deadly. Like Blue Plague. Even though he and Caitlin already knew the details, they pretended to put the pieces together with the team. That the Stalker was killing metas, stealing their abilities. And that was how Pete had actually died, how the plow truck had crushed Cisco's car. 

It was all a lot of dejavu with a new cast of characters in the mix. Barry and Joe followed the metas, using the disappearances as their best lead to track down the Stalker. Caitlin focused on the poison and how the Stalker had configured it, to see if there was anything familiar or anything she could link to known scientists. 

Everyone agreed that Harry should lay low. 

Harry agreed, under the same condition he'd given Cisco earlier.

Cisco was going to lose his damn mind. Or throw up. Or both. 

“Two days isn't enough time. What if we don't catch the Stalker by then? Did you ever think of that?!” Cisco demanded, pacing quickly before the guest bed that Harry was currently sitting on the edge of, working on undoing the laces of his boots. He breathed lightly, straightening up and placing his palms flat on his knees, watching Cisco pace.

“Ramon.” He nearly demanded. “Enough already.” He stood, pushing his boots off and pushing them beneath the bed before motioning to him. “You're acting like a maniac.” He pushed his sleeves up toward his elbows. Cisco stopped pacing and glared at him, mouth open, ready to lay into Harry. But then he stopped cold, reminding himself that Harry didn't know. Any of it. Harry was watching him, then furrowed his brows, putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head. “How long are you going to keep this up? What's it going to take for you to tell me what the hell is actually going on?” He advanced on Cisco then, quick strides of long legs that had him in Cisco's space in no time. “No lies between us.” He reminded harshly, “Or was that a rule just for me?” He demanded. Cisco swallowed, he could see the anger swirling in Harry's eyes. And the uncertainty. And he just... had no answer. Because he was lying. He had to. For a little while longer. To keep Harry safe. Harry shook his head, a wry smile stretched on his lips. “Go home, Ramon.” He stated softly, but the intent in his voice was clear. 

“Wait, what?” Cisco blinked, momentarily stunned, then shook his head as Harry turned away and moved back toward the bed. “I'm staying here with you.”

“No, you're not.” Harry sat down, pulling his glasses off and setting them on the very small night stand. “If you're going to keep things from me, I don't want you here.” 

Wow.

Just... seriously, wow.

Harry turned his eyes toward him. “You made me promise... demanded it of me... that I never keep things from you. That I'm honest with you about everything, because you couldn't be with me otherwise.” The emotion in his voice, the quiet anger, the honest hurt... it made Cisco go completely still. “And yet since the moment you woke up on Christmas Day? You've done nothing but hide. Lie. Did you think I wouldn't notice? I know you, Ramon! And I've been more than patient...” he looked away, sighing, running a hand over his face, then roughly through his hair. “I'll keep my word. Two days.” He let his hand fall. “Just... go away.”

Then he threw the covers back without looking anywhere but at the floor. 

Cisco couldn't think past the words _'no'_ and _'forgive me'_ and _'I'm trying to save you,'_ but it all fell flat in his head and turned to dust in his mouth as he watched Harry's jaw clench and his eyes close, the tense form of his shoulders set in a line just before he lay back and reached for the side light, shutting it off and drenching the room in darkness, except for the light from the hallway that painted the room in a strip that didn't reach Harry. 

He understood. From Harry's perspective, this was more than unfair. This was... hurtful. Because Cisco had demanded complete honesty from him at the start. And yeah, Harry knew him well enough to know when Cisco wasn't being honest himself. 

Cisco clenched his hands tightly, tight enough to make his palms hurt and his knuckles ache. He wanted nothing more than to go over to Harry and just curl up into him and feel Harry's arms wrap around him. But he also knew that Harry didn't want that right now. So, against all instinct, he turned, the rock in his gut and the headache exploding into just pure heartache as he left the room, closing the door on his husband.

S.T.A.R. Labs was quiet, mostly dark, and far too cold. Or at least it seemed that way. There was a fresh snowfall coming down outside, so maybe that was it? But Cisco knew it was really because he just felt like crap. Emotionally, mentally, physically.

Caitlin had gone home. She'd left a note on Cisco's keyboard, just in case. _'You shouldn't be in here. Get some rest. Doctor's orders. Love, Caitlin.'_ It made him smile, just a little. She was right, he should sleep. But he wasn't going to go home like Harry told him to. And he was pretty damn sure he couldn't rest knowing that Harry was in trouble, or knowing that he'd hurt Harry.

Shit.

He'd hurt Harry.

Had that ever happened before?

He sat very slowly, letting the air filter out of him in increments. 

They fought, bickered, pestered one another, sometimes frustrated each other beyond belief. But hurt each other? No. Never. Cisco felt his heartache manifest into a quiet sob and he planted a hand over his mouth to stifle it, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head, standing up fast enough to make the chair spin away loudly as he paced toward the wall.

“Did you just say... divorce?” _Harry asked him, frozen in place, eyes wide. Cisco had never seen him look like that. It was a mix of fear and... hurt. He wanted to take the words back, to tell Harry he hadn't meant them, that it was all mistake, a sick joke. But he knew there was no turning back now. That the Stalker would kill Harry if he so much as backed up an inch. So he swallowed, forced himself to nod._

“Yeah.” _He managed, half above a whisper. And swear to god, it looked like he'd hit Harry. He may as well have. Harry closed his mouth, opened it as if to say something, anything. But closed it again before sitting down on the couch, hard. Like his legs couldn't hold him anymore. Disbelief, but mostly pain filled his eyes, his expression. Hurt, real and palpable and terrible. God, so terrible._

“Go away.” _Harry said then, his voice soft and without an ounce of the emotion he was showing. His eyes dragged up Cisco's form, and suddenly his expression went as blank as his tone._ “Now.” _Cisco didn't nod. Didn't say a word. He just turned, grabbed his jacket and left. Had to. He couldn't breathe. Couldn't think past the words,_ 'no' _and_ 'I'm sorry' _and_ 'I'm trying to save you.' _And he ran, till his tears didn't feel like hot lava on his face and his legs refused to hold him up and his lungs punished him for hurting the one person in any universe he would ever love..._

The memory was like a sledgehammer. It knocked him down, physically, onto his ass. Both hands gripped his throbbing head. The room was spinning and he felt beyond nauseous. Had it been a memory or a vibe of the Not-Future? Either way, he felt even worse than he had before. And was that blood? He brought his hand away from his nose. Yup, his nose was bleeding. Shit. 

“Ramon?!” Harry's worried tone met his ears, and Cisco attempted to look up as the light from the monitors was suddenly blocked by Harry's body. But that only made the room spin worse. Harry grabbed on to him, just as Cisco was pretty sure gravity itself stopped functioning.

“Harry, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry.” He mumbled, letting Harry hoist him up. Strong hands and arms Cisco loved so goddamn much pulling him in, holding him tight. Cisco flattened his face right into Harry's chest. 

“Shit...” Harry whispered, “What happened to you?” He demanded, turning Cisco just enough to guide him out of the Cortex and into the medlab. He wasn't sure how Harry managed it, but he got him on the gurney without Cisco even noticing. 

“I think I vibed... or... somethin... I dunno...” His words seemed lazy. Like he was drunk. But really, it just hurt his head to speak. Harry carded his fingers through Cisco's hair gently. “Wait, why are you... down here?” He got out, closing his eyes as Harry shoved the hovering light out of the way. 

“I'm still mad at you. Don't get any ideas.” Harry grumped. “But as it turns out,” He sighed, pulling a blanket up Cisco's form with his free hand, “I can't sleep unless I'm holding you. So...” He shrugged, pausing his fingers as Cisco opened his eyes again. “You worry me, Ramon.” He shook his head a little, but he bent over and placed a chaste kiss on Cisco's lips. And for a very real moment, Cisco's head didn't hurt. 

“So you still love me?” Cisco mumbled, then realize how silly it sounded. Harry smirked, very calmly. 

“Never stopped.” He straightened up, then reached in his pocket, pulling out his cell phone. “Relax. I'm going to call Snow.” He gave Cisco one last long look, then stepped out of the room. 

Everything was quiet. He could hear the soft murmur of Harry's voice as he spoke to Caitlin on the phone. It was mostly dark. And though his head was throbbing, he could finally focus. A little at least. 

It had been a vibe. A strange one. Painful. Why, though? 

It almost made him wish the Watcher was around to ask. 

At any rate, it was just as much a memory. One of many he'd been trying to forget. But thinking about hurting Harry had dragged it out of him. And it was just as awful to experience the second time around. 

“Forgive me, Harry...” He found himself saying, his eyes growing heavy. “I'm just trying to save you.”

“Save me from what?” He heard Harry ask from beside him. But he couldn't answer. He was too close to sleep now. His head too throbbing to let him talk anymore. And he passed out to the sound of Harry worriedly whispering his name, the feel of Harry's hands delicately threading through his hair, and the hope that he wouldn't have to visit anymore memories the moment darkness took him...

**Author's Note:**

> (To be continued...)


End file.
